Chapter 5 - THE BRUISES
Denise Harper asked Ethan to sit at the kitchen table.
He didn't want to sit.
He wanted Lily.
He wanted Vivian gone.
He wanted the last eight months erased.
Instead, he sat.
“Where did the bruises come from?” Denise asked.
“I don't know which bruises you're talking about.”
An officer turned a phone toward him.
Three photographs.
Lily's upper arm.
A dark mark near her elbow.
Another bruise on her shin.
A red patch near her shoulder.
Ethan's stomach dropped.
“I've seen the one on her shin. Vivian said she fell at the playground.”
“Did you ask Lily?”
“I did.”
“What did she say?”
Ethan searched his memory.
“She said she fell.”
From the other room, Lily suddenly shouted.
“She told me to!”
Everyone went silent.
Lily appeared in the doorway beside the female officer.
Her face was swollen from crying.
Ethan stood.
“Sweetheart—”
“She told me to say I fell.”
Denise crouched.
“Who told you that, Lily?”
Lily pointed through the glass door.
Vivian stopped smiling.
Denise spoke gently.
“You don't have to say anything else right now.”
Vivian shouted, “She's being coached!”
Officer Ramirez stepped between Vivian and the door.
“Ma'am, stop.”
Lily ran to Ethan.
He lifted her.
She pressed her face against him.
“I'm sorry, Daddy.”
“For what?”
“I was bad.”
“No.”
“I told.”
“No, no, no.”
He pulled back enough to see her eyes.
“Lily, listen to me. You did nothing wrong.”
“But Vivian said—”
“I don't care what Vivian said.”
Ethan's voice cracked.
“You tell me anything. Always. Even if you think I'll be mad. Even if somebody tells you I'll stop loving you. There is nothing you could tell me that would make me stop loving you. Do you understand?”
Lily stared at him.
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
She held up her little finger.
“Promise?”
Ethan hooked his pinky around hers.
“Promise.”
Denise watched them for a moment.
Then she said, “Mr. Walker, Lily cannot remain in the house tonight.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
“The home is an active scene, and we have competing allegations.”
“I told you I'm not leaving her.”
“You can go with her.”
“Where?”
“Do you have a family member nearby?”
“My sister Rachel.”
“Is Lily comfortable with her?”
“Yes.”
Lily nodded.
“Aunt Rach has pancakes.”
Despite everything, Ethan almost smiled.
Denise said, “Then we'll discuss a temporary safety arrangement.”
Vivian laughed from outside.
Ethan looked at her.
“What is funny?”
“You.”
“Vivian.”
“You still don't get it.”
“Get what?”
She leaned forward as far as the handcuffs allowed.
“I didn't take those pictures for tonight.”
Ethan felt cold again.
“What does that mean?”
Vivian's eyes moved toward the hallway.
“The police should check your office.”
Ethan frowned.
“My home office?”
She smiled.
“Top drawer.”
Officer Ramirez went immediately.
Ethan followed.
Inside the top drawer of Ethan's desk were tax papers, pens, old business cards.
And an envelope.
He had never seen it before.
Ramirez opened it.
Inside was a printed document.
PETITION FOR EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CUSTODY.
The petitioner line was blank.
But attached to it were photographs of Lily's bruises.
And a typed statement describing Ethan as “volatile, controlling, and increasingly dangerous.”
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
WAIT UNTIL AFTER HIS NEXT BUSINESS TRIP.
Ethan stared at Vivian through the doorway.
His next business trip was Monday.
Three days away.
Whatever Vivian had planned…
May you like
He had come home three days too early.
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